The first reaction when confronted with a client owning real estate outside Indiana is to transfer that property into a trust, LLC or other method. However, Florida’s property tax laws may yield a result that could be much worse than ancillary administration.
Questions about who will care for a pet upon the owner’s death or in the event of an emergency aren’t always asked until it’s too late. That’s where a pet trust could come into play.
Indiana and its investment managers can’t make government employee pension system investments based on environmental, social or governance criteria, Attorney General Todd Rokita wrote in an advisory opinion released Thursday.
Beneficiaries need to understand that their inheritances may still be subject to claims in the estate. Creditors need to understand the process for proceeding against “nonprobate transferees” to preserve their rights.
As COVID’s threat to the elderly quickly became apparent, some Indiana estate planning attorneys saw a major uptick in older clients scrambling to get their affairs in order. On the flip side, others heard radio silence from the elderly — only for the phones to starting ringing again once public safety restrictions eased.
Sometimes, making choices is difficult, either because we have insufficient information or because we don’t want to have to choose between competing interests. Estate planning is one of those situations in which failing to make a choice can result in unintended, negative consequences.
I encourage my clients to plan for the future when it comes to their money and property by creating, and then occasionally updating, their estate plans. But often, clients have a “one and done” philosophy and don’t think they need to update their documents.
A Carmel man has been sentenced to seven years in federal prison for taking part in a Ponzi-like scheme that robbed numerous investors of their retirement savings, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday.
There is, in fact, no shortage of life events that should invoke the idea of contacting an estate planning attorney to see if any changes are required to an individual’s estate plan.
Digital assets are an important part of estate planning. Planning includes ensuring that the appropriate people have access to the information at the right time. We have been made aware of these issues when dealing with cryptocurrencies, but what about all the subscription and social media services we all utilize now? It’s more important than ever to have a clear plan for accessing digital assets. This is one of those areas where technology clearly intersects with a specific area of the law.
Transferring realty out of an estate assists the common goal of avoiding probate by eliminating the real estate from the threshold value calculation. Inter vivos and ad mortem transfers are the two means of avoiding such inclusion.
A Greenwood man will not obtain an accounting of his mother’s finances, as the Court of Appeals of Indiana has affirmed it is in the best interest of the woman that those details stay between her and the daughter she named as her guardian.
With so much going on in tax law, it’s a critical time to understand what your current estate plan is, identify how different rule changes might affect your plan if they become law and map out potential strategies that can be implemented if the laws change.
On July 1, Indiana significantly broadened the options for an individual to make health care wishes known through an “Advance Directive for Health Care Decisions.”
Court-determined arrangements have made recent headlines as pop star Britney Spears publicly fought to be removed from what she called a “toxic” conservatorship. Her case of conservatorship, similar to Indiana man Nicholas Clouse’s guardianship, illuminates potential problems and abuse of power in such arrangements.
House Enrolled Act 1255 (P.L. 185-2021) added new signing methods for wills, effective April 29, with no “sunset” date and no dependence on any current or future public health emergency.
Not only are the keys vital to accessing the cryptocurrencies, their mere presence also alerts the heirs that the deceased relative or friend was holding the
virtual money.
Estate plans for collectors of coins, art, stamps or other items will need to consider both the value and logistics of passing the collection to a new owner.
With so much pending change, advising clients on wealth transfer planning is akin to advising the client to bet red, black or green on a roulette wheel.
Although an adult guardian properly deposited a check after his ward died, the trial court did not err in denying the guardian’s request to exercise estate planning, the Indiana Court of Appeals has ruled.